Michael i



(No Model.) M. I. WELOH.

GAR. COUPLING.

N0. 496,025. Patente Apr. 25, 18,93.

Eli:

UNITED STATES. PATENT. Genres.

MICHAEL I. l/VELCH, OF CORDELE, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SAFETY CAR COUPLING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,025, dated April 25, 1893.

Application filed December 5, 1892. Serial No. 454,163. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: cated a rock-arm f fixed by means of a key f Be it known that I, MICHAEL I. WVELGH, a to the hook shank c, for the purpose of rockcitizen of the United States, residing at Oor ing thehooks axially to throw them in and dele, in the county of Dooly and State of out of operative position. This operation is 55 5 Georgia,have invented certain new and useperformed by means of a horizontally or latful Improvements in Car-Couplers; and I do erally extending rod, g which is attached to declare the following to be afull, clear, and exthe upper free end of the rock-arm, and exact description of the invention, such as will tends beyond the side of the car where it is enable others skilled in the art to which it approvided with a hook to permit the coupling 6o pertains to make and use the same, reference to be manipulated without going between the being had to the accompanying drawings, and cars. The hook may be locked in coupled or to the letters of reference marked thereon, uncoupled adjustment by means of notches which form a part of this specification. h h in the top of the bar 9. The rodgpasses My invention relates to that class of car through a'slotj in a plate 1' fixed to the side 65 I5 couplers wherein a pair of twin rock-hooks of the car. One end of this slot is given a is employed; my object being to provide a circularconformityto permit the rod gtomove hook coupler which will be automatic in the endwise freely back and forth. The other coupling operation; simple in construction; portion of the slot is given a less diameter notliable to become accidentally uncoupled; than thecircular part, so that when eitherof 7o can be uncoupled without going between the the notches h h is brought into coincidence cars, and which is cheap, effective, strong and therewith, the rod can be shifted to the right durable. as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, and thus To these ends my invention consists in the locked against endwise movement. The rod peculiar features of construction and combiis confined in this position by means of aver- 75 nations of parts as will be morefully described tically movable locking bolt Z which passes hereinafter and pointed out in the claims. through the slot. A handle Z enables this In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 bolt to be easily raised up and down to rerepresents a plan of my invention as applied lease or retain the rod. to an ordinary car body, the coupling hooks In order to cause the hook to automatically 8o being shown coupled together; Fig. 2 an end assume a coupling position, asin Figs. 1 and View of the same through YY of Fig. 1; 2, it is provided with a gravitating weight m Fig. 3 a cross-section through XX of Fig. 1; which is fixed to the shank of the book. In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, views of details. order to prevent the hooks when coupled,

The reference letter a represents a drawfrom clutching and binding and therebybend- 85 head equipped with my improvements. The ing and breaking, they are each given a petwo drawheads and their accompanying parts culiar conformation. shown in the drawings being constructed eX- The hook instead of being bent in the form actly alike, a description of one will suffice of a true semicircle,is only curved to describe forboth. Eachof the drawheads is provided the segment of a circle on its inner edge 0 9o 4 with the usual flaring mouth and vertical pinand slopes from the top 0 down to the edge opening a, so that the old form of link and 0 forming an oblique surface 0 The outer pin can be substituted when emergencies reend of the hook is provided with a curved quire them. The usual cushioning spring surbevel c and the opposite side 0 of the hook, rounds the shank o and is actuated by a block is flattened. This construction brings the 5 b movable withinaguide-frame 19 The dra'wshanks of the hooks when coupled, closer tohead is bored longitudinally to receive the gether and nearer in alignment, so that the shank c of a peculiarly constructed hook c, to strain upon the hook proper is brought more be more minutely described hereinafter. The upon the shank, and the tendency to break borewhich receives this hook extends through is thus greatly reduced. A further advan- I00 5 an upward flaring chamber 6 in the rear portage of this construction is that it prevents tion of the drawhead. In this chamber'is lothe hooks from uncoupling and permits them to have a universal movement, so that in rounding curves and passing over any uneveness in the track, no twisting or wrenching takes place. The hooks are so set in the drawhead that their points a will extend back so near the face of the drawhead, that the space between them will be too small to permit the hook to jump out and become accidentally uncoupled. The advantages of this construction are those of simplicity, cheapness, durability, certainty of action, convenience, safety and adaptability to all kinds of rolling stock. It is evident that the righting weight m could be replaced by aspringand that other slight changes that might suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic, might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Therefore I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown, but consider myself entitled to all such variations as come within the spirit and scope of my invention.

vHaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car coupling, the herein described hook curved in the form of a segment of a circle, the outer surface of the hook being beveled, the inner surface being obliquely formed to receive a corresponding surface upon the opposite hook whereby the two fit snugly together when in coupled position and thereby enable the hooks to extend backward and overlap the opposite hook when in the said coupled position, in combination with a righting weight secured to the shank of the hook, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a rocking hookshank of a hook secured thereto, an oscillating arm secured to move therewith, an operating arm extending from said oscillating arm, notches or recesses in said operating arm, and

i a plate provided with circular or semi-circular openings through which said operating arm extends, said openings being connected by a slot which receives the notches in the operating arm, substantially as set forth and described.

3. The combination with a rocking hookshank, of a hook secured thereto, an operating arm secured to the shank, a plate provided with openings through which said arm extends, notches in said operating arm and a slot connecting the openings in the plate and MICHAEL I. WELCl-l. Witnesses:

R. G. DU BOIS, E. A. FINOKEL. 

